Fantasy Baseball Today - Ranking Starting Pitchers, Prospect Report & Week 25 Sleepers! (9/10 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: September 10, 2021

Oh my goodness, Jesus Luzardo and Joe Ryan are awesome (1:48). ... Where do they rank among a big group of waiver wire starting pitchers including Ranger Suarez, Nestor Cortes and others (8:17)? News and notes (16:27). Gerrit Cole should make his next start, Jacob deGrom says his elbow is fine and more. ... Prospect report (25:45)! What's up with Jose Barrero and Luis Campusano? ... Week 25 sleepers (35:55)! Which two-start pitchers and hitter matchups should you target? ... Would you rather Abraham Toro, Nicky Lopez or Nick Solak (42:34)? ... Sandy Alcantara and Frankie Montas are league-winning pitchers (48:32). ... Start or sit these pitchers next week (54:00)? ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpen updates, and streamers for the weekend (58:22).  'Fantasy Baseball Today' is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @FBTPod, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/ For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday You can listen to Fantasy Baseball Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Happy Cocomo Friday and welcome into fantasy baseball today presented by Lining Cules. More on their great variety of beverages later on in the podcast. September 10th, Frank Stamphill joined by Scotty Dubbs, Scott White. And admittedly, it's a busy time, Scott. We've got football going on. There's baseball going on. So I'm a little bit stressed out. But, you know, once that Cocamo music hits that Cocamo Friday music hits,

just cheers me up, man. I started bobbing my head. I'm bouncing around. I'm excited. How you doing, Scott? Well, you're relaxed. I mean, that's, it's kind of a, a certain serenity washes over me when I hear the Friday Kokomo theme. And, you know, my gray hairs regain their color. And everything is, everything is nice and easy. So I'm doing fine. Very nice. Yeah, you know, speaking of gray hairs,

my, my, my barber, who is actually my uncle, my godfather, he, he told me recently that I have a few gray hairs sprouting in the back. So, well, we're getting to that point, man. I don't even have kids, but it's still, it's a, it's a stressful part of life. Anyway, today on the podcast, we've got a, it's a great start here. Week 25 sleepers, we got two star pitchers, the prospect report, and I have eight, that's right, eight waiver wire starting pitchers that I want Scott to rank, and we're going to start with them right now.

Oh my goodness gracious. All right, Scott, little do you know. One of those pitchers is your, oh my goodness. gracious pitcher, player of the night. Who is that? All righty. My oh my goodness gracious pitcher, or player, which happens to be a pitcher,

is Jesus Lazzardo. And Frank, I got to tell you. I don't think any organization understands pitching right now better than the Miami Marlins do. And Luzardo is just further evidence of this because, you know, at the time of the trade,

We thought Luzardo was a lot to give up for a couple months of Starling Marte But at the same time We weren't sure whether or not he was Broken if You know He was young enough High enough pedigree that it was worth

Taking a shot on him for a guy who was going to walk anyway But we didn't really know how it was going to go Seems like it's gone real well Already already Three His third straight strong start here For the Marlins two earn runs in five and two-thirds innings, only two hits allowed.

He did walk four, but he also struck out eight, and most notably, Lazzardo had 23 swinging strikes. What all of these starts have in common, other than a good result, is he's really, really, really, really gone after it with his secondary pitches. In some order, curveball and change-upers, two most thrown pitches in those three starts. And that was not something he was doing previously.

His fastball has not gotten good results this year. So it makes sense to fade it. And there's probably more that's gone into the chain that's gone into his turnaround than just that. But I'm sure that's a big part of it. And I think he's back. I think he's fixed. I think it's clear.

I think the upside is plain to see again. and I'd be patting myself on the back if I held on to Jesus Luzardo in a Dynasty league. Yes, and at the time of the trade, I asked you, would you try and buy low on Jesus Lazzardo in Dynasty? Yeah, and I mean, it seems like a pretty obvious thing to do, former top prospect, he's going through a rough patch here,

he's still super young, so it made sense, yeah, to go out and do it. I mean, how low can you actually buy him? I would imagine whoever had him in Dynasty or still has him. You know, they value him pretty highly, even though he's going through a rough patch. So hopefully you did go out and acquire him in Dynasty

or on the other side of that if you held on to him. Good job by you. 41% rostered. He's at the Washington Nationals next week. We'll get more into these matchups in just a second. But I wanted to talk about Joe Ryan. Oh my goodness gracious. He took a perfect game into the seventh inning on Wednesday.

He was at Cleveland, finishes with seven shutout endings, one hit, zero walks, only four strikeouts, only seven swinging strikes on 85 pitches. So the strikeouts, the swinging strikes, Nothing astronomical here, nothing amazing from Joe Ryan, but I saw two strikeouts that he had on the slider in that start, and I think it's a pretty good pitch. And he actually used his secondary stuff a little bit more in this one.

Fastball, 61% of the time that was down. Last start, that was up over 70%. He uses slider 18% in this start. Curbball and change up 11% each. Now, I don't think that those pitches are necessarily there yet, but the fact that he has enough confidence to throw four different pitches over 10% of the time. I think there's something here, long term, with Joe Ryan,

and potentially as soon as next week when he faces Cleveland again and he's home against Toronto. So it looks like a two-star pitcher. Joe Ryan is 28% rostered. You could talk more about that, Scott, because I know you look way in depth on schedules, but what did you see from Joe Ryan in this start?

Does he actually have two starts next week? I believe he has just one start next week. It's kind of a tricky situation with a double header on Tuesday, but only five days of games on the schedule for the twins. And I think they're going six-man right now. That's kind of the issue with a lot of these matchups, too, is it isn't clear from one turn through the rotation to the next,

whether a team's going five-man or six-man. A lot of teams appear to be going six-man, but they could lose that at any point, you know? So I only have Joe Ryan down for one start, but it is against Cleveland, who he just, you know, one hit through seven in any. So I have Joe Ryan among my top 10 sleeper pitches for this upcoming week, as I do, Jesus Luzardo. You know, I've been kind of a fence sitter with Ryan from the day we learned he was coming up.

Obviously, an atypical prospect profile. Really impressive numbers, but the scouting reports generally weren't making them out to be that big of a deal. but I mean it's obviously time to stop sitting on the fence and pick him up if the first of all he has one walk in 12 innings between the two starts and throwing a lot of strikes with something he did in the minors too plus if the Indians are going to let him go or I'm sorry if the twins are going to let him go seven innings you know how many pitchers this time of year are being allowed to exceed five other than the really high end guys not the

that many. So he looks like he could be really useful. I don't know long term still what to make of him. You know, nine strikeouts and 12 innings. It was a big strikeout guy in the minors. That's part of what got us excited. And the swinging strike rate around 12% in those two stars, that's pretty good. But I would like to see more strikeouts from Ryan before I'm totally on board. But clearly he needs to be picked up at this point. Yep. Again, you mentioned it 28%. and I just want to hit on something you said there at the top. We're going to continue to give out two-star pitchers on every Friday podcast. Obviously, Scott looks super in-depth on these schedules.

But I think if you're picking up players earlier in the week and kind of projecting them for two-starts, unless you know for sure, I would really just take it with a grain of salt at this time of year. Because as Scott mentioned, a lot of teams mixing and matching this time a year, especially teams that are out of it. They're limiting guys. Some pitchers are piggybacking. It happened with Bailey Ober earlier this week, too. so just keep that in mind.

Take things with a grain of salt when it comes to two-star pitchers this time of year. All right, Scott, I'm going to throw eight names your way. Well, we already spoke about two of them. So I'm going to throw six more. There's a lot.

There's a lot going on here. First, give me your favorite four pitchers from this group. Joe Ryan just talked about him. Rich Hill, he was at the Marlins on Wednesday. Six innings, one run, eight strikeouts to zero walks, 18 swinging strikes for Rich Hill.

He's 59% rostered. And CBS has, has him for two starts. I don't know if he actually has two starts. Yeah, I have him for two starts as well. Okay. Mike Minor, he was at... As if I don't represent CBS. I actually think, well, it's probably not worth getting into that, but... But yeah, I obviously look into it myself when I'm picking out my sleeper pitchers for the upcoming week.

And the automated process obviously skips some steps that I don't. So, yes. So, yeah, that's why there's some... Sometimes, we're sometimes in conflict when we do the podcast here on Thursday night. In case you were ever wondering, full transparency, Scott is not the one who puts the matchups on CBS. I mean, he does put them in his articles, but I mean, those little like the ball next to the name with the matchup, Scott doesn't do that. That comes from somewhere else. That's, yeah, that's an automated process.

There was a time many years ago when a fantasy analyst did that. and it was, it took up a lot of that fantasy analyst's time. And that fantasy analyst wasn't me for what it's worth. Are we, uh, are we paying homage to Al Malkyar right now? Yeah, that's what's happening. Well, good on you, Al, because that is, that is a lot of work. Anyway, let's get back to back to this. We mentioned Joe Ryan, Hazes, Lazzardo, Rich Hill.

Mike Miner, six shutout. We have three strikeouts against the Orioles. He has allowed three earned runs or less in five straight. He's 54% rostered. I have him for two starts. next week. I don't know if he actually does have two starts. Antonio Sanzatella now has a quality start in eight

of his last nine. He's 27% rostered at the Braves next week. It's kind of like a Kyle Freeland situation because he's had all this great production, but we can't get that now. We just kind of have to figure out if he's going to be good moving forward. Ranger Suarez, I know you love him, Scott. He now has

allowed three earned runs over his last four starts. He's 66% rostered versus the Cubs next week. Carlos Hernandez, six strut out, Only one strikeout in this start against the Orioles. He has allowed two earn runs or less in seven of his last eight. And then my man, nasty Nestor, Cortez. He was up against the Blue Jays, six innings, two runs, five strikeouts.

He has allowed three earned runs or less in seven of his last eight. So a lot of names here. Nestor Cortez, Carlos Hernandez, Rangers Suarez, Antonio Senzatella, Jesus Lazzardo, Mike Minor, Rich Hill, Joe Ryan. Who are your four favorites from that group? for the upcoming week or for the rest of the season. Yeah. We're getting somewhere there's not that much difference between those two right now.

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So let's go for our upcoming week. Okay. Okay. My four favorites of that group of how many of... Of eight. Of eight.

So Nestor Cortez has just been so bankable that he has to be number one. I mean, the Orioles is a good matchup. The Orioles is the team. He just had a good start against here on Thursday. So he's number one. Then Rich Hill. Wait, you said Nessor Cortez. He started against the Blue Jays on Thursday.

Oh, okay. Not against him. But yeah. He started against them recently. But he was, I'm pretty sure he was good in that start too. Well, even better if that he succeeded against the war. He's been succeeding against everybody lately.

Yeah. Rich Hill, it would be my second choice with the two starts. Versus St. Louis, that's a pretty good matchup versus the Phillies. Yeah, that's okay, I guess. But something's really gotten into Rich Hill here lately because he, back-to-back quality starts and two of three with double-digit swinging strikes and actually 13 or more, both of them.

And he hadn't had a double, prior to the two of three double-digit swinging strikes, he hadn't had a double-digit swinging strike game since he had 25 swinging strikes on what may have been the best start of his career back on May 25th. So working deeper, getting more whiffs. I don't really know what's changed, but Rich Hill with the two starts, I'm going to go with him second here, behind Nestor Cortez.

And then next will be Joe Ryan, because the matchup against Cleveland is so good. Obviously, he just shut them down. And then Luzardo would be fourth. For all the reasons we talked to, oh, my goodness, I missed Razor Swar. Oh, is this going to say, Scott? Scott, you scratch everything.

You missed Ranger Suarez. Cratch everything. Ranger Suarez has just become so easy to slot at the top of my 10 sleeper pitchers for the upcoming week. Ranger Suarez, it's, he's become, like, it's become the ultimate frustration for me, how he's been overlooked here, because did it again against the Rockies on Thursday, one run in six in six strikeouts. And I could make the case, you know, we talk about the ground ball rate and how the strikeouts are still pretty good. And, yeah, we could get into all that again. Or I could just point out Ranger Suarez has a 138 ERA this year. And since moving to the starting rotation, span of eight starts, he has a 167 ERA.

So he's really lost nothing with the move. Yeah, Ranger Suarez is at the top of this list. sorry I overlooked him. So let me redo that. Ranger Chihuahua is number one. Nestor Cortez number two. Richel number three, Joe Ryan number four.

And if you need a fifth, it would be Jesus Lazzardo. Okay, my next question is, would you drop Kyle Gibson for any of them? His last five starts, he has a 5.50 ERA. He's still 94% rostered, but he might have two starts next week as well,

with good matches. Against the cut. and the Mets. Yep. So no, I would not. I, yeah, I understand he's been shaky recently, and we've had doubts about him this whole season. But with those two matchups,

I actually have him as a must start to start pitcher for next week. So definitely not dropping him. Okay, I'm going to assume that you're holding on to Freddie Peralta as well. Yes. Okay. Now, the last three names there,

I guess if you play in probably a little bit of a deeper league than those other names, how would you rank Sinsettella, Carlos Hernandez, and Mike Minor? I would rank them Carlos Hernandez, Antonio Sanzatella, and Mike Minor. To do this exercise justice, we'd really have to line up their matchups for the rest of the season, which, you know, was kind of a fraught process anyway

because of how... So many things are changing. Yeah, it changes all the time. But, you know, we're at the point of the season where that's worth considering. But just based on what I know looking at their next matchups and just how I feel about them in general, I would go Carlos Hernandez, Antonio Sinsatella, and then what was the third one? Mike Minor.

Mike Minor. All right. And before you yell at us that, oh, you just wasted 15 minutes on an opening segment. Well, I mean, it's pretty important stuff right now. Those are, you know, widely available starting pitchers and they're all pitching pretty well. So, yeah, I wanted to get all those out of the way. Before we hit the news notes, the NFL has finally returned. And the Pixixix podcast is your top audio.

destination for comprehensive coverage of the 2021 season. Join host Will Brinson and company for extensive game previews and all the picks you need. Plus, recaps immediately after Monday, Thursday and Sunday night football games. That and much more coming this fall on the Pick Six podcast feed, download and follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and wherever else podcasts are found. News and Notes, and this is going to sound familiar because I started Wednesday's News and notes with Garrett Cole and Jacob de Grom. I'm about to do exactly the same thing. Garrick Cole is expected to make his next start after leaving with a hamstring injury on Tuesday. He played catch on Thursday. All reports look pretty good as of now. So we'll find out for

sure over the weekend, but things looking up for Garrett Cole. And you would be a two-star pitcher if that hamstring does hold up. Cross your fingers. Let's go. Jacob Grom told reporters on Thursday, that his elbow ligament is, quote, perfectly fine. I'm telling this guy is, he's Wolverine, regeneration. This guy could just, you know, regenerate his elbow ligament, so I don't know. Yeah. He added, he wouldn't be throwing if he had a compromised ligament. Obviously guys. Yes. I added the obviously guys, but he said the rest. And I don't I really don't know what to make of this situation because they're saying things that sound pretty convincing, both DeGrom and Sandy Alderson, that there's really nothing to worry about

here. And yet, our experience with these situations, anytime the ligament in the elbow gets involved, it's just, you're just waiting for the inevitable. and the inevitable as often before he even takes the mound again. So, you know, there have been pitchers who've pitched through ligament issues. I mean, Zach Gallin's doing it right now, though we wonder how successfully he's doing it. Masahiro Tanaka did for years.

Irvin Santana going way back, he did for years. And it sounds like from what the Mets are saying, de Grom and Alderson, that, you know, his ligament issue is even less than, that because apparently it's just gone. I don't know. In the Scott White Dynasty League, that 24-teamer, where I've been eliminated so I will not win a fourth consecutive championship. But DeGrom was an instrumental part of the three.

And I traded him at the deadline this year because I was scared. It was getting difficult to keep. And I was scared I wasn't going to get anything for him. I don't know that I would have been able to continue to keep him if he, if something went down this off season where, you know, who's going to miss a large chunk of next year, and I wanted to get something for him. And I'm still not sure that was the right decision. I love how you snuck that little, which I will not win for the fourth year in a row. Well, it's come up before on the podcast. I know. I feel like some people are probably invested

in how that team is doing. Well, look, if anyone's invested in my team, I'm currently playing for the ninth pick in the rookie draft. So I'm trying, guys. I'm trying my hardest. But Yeah, my team is, it's bad. It's real bad. Chris Towers eliminated me, by the way. I was just about to ask you. He probably wanted me to mention that. I was just about to ask you. I saw that you were facing Chris last week, so I hope he set his lineup. I know he's got a lot going on with football right now, but yeah, I'm rooting for Chris, man. Let's root for Chris. I want, if anyone else is going to win the Scott White Dynasty League and it's not Scott, I want it to be someone else in the podcast.

Mostly me, but not going to happen this year. Clinton Kirshall is expected to rejoin the starting rotation early, next week, so some good news there. We have pitcher updates for the White Sox. Carlos Rodon expected to return Friday against the Red Sox. Lance Lynn expected to return Sunday against the Red Sox. Tony Laruso is hopeful that Lucas Geelito will start Tuesday against the Angels. Would that make him a two-start pitcher, Scott? Do you know offhand? Who is that? Lucas Gilito, if he starts Tuesday? Yeah, he would be a two-star pitcher if he does return is scheduled. Cool. James, Emison Tyone was placed on the 10-day I.O. with a right ankle tendon injury.

And I searched this up, but it looks like Luis Heel was not sent back down to the minors after his wild start Wednesday. Wild, not in a good way. I mean, it was actually just very wild. Three and a third, three runs allowed. Seven walks to six strikeouts. We were kind of waiting for the other shoe to fall because he had had so much control issues in the minors. But man, seven walks. It speaks for its. itself. It's obviously very bad. He still had 14 swinging strikes. So, I mean, glass half full, I guess. Yeah, and it's, it's not surprising he didn't get sit down considering James and Tyone's on the IL now. So they need, they need heel. He'll turn to heel. And now we don't really know what to do with him with two starts coming up next week. But I will point out those two starts are at Baltimore versus Cleveland. So get them in there. He's a top 10 sleeper pitcher for me.

But I, it is worth pointing out that as bad as that star was Wednesday. He still has a 142 ERA and even a 126 whip between the three starts. So he's not going to walk seven every game. He's going to have control issues, but that's not going to happen every game. Those matchups are really good. Yeah, let's hope that. Let's hope he doesn't walk seven every time. Hazer's Aguilar went to the IL with left knee inflammation.

and former Marlins' top prospect, Lewin Diaz, has been recalled. He hit 20 home runs in the minors this season, albeit while batting 248. Scott, do you have any interest in Lewin Diaz in deeper leagues? It'd have to be pretty deep. I mean, with Akelaar going on the IEL, it seems like Diaz is going to get playing time.

But, yeah, it really didn't impress me with the minor league performance this year. And it has done nothing in previous stints in the majors so far. So I don't have particularly high hopes. Oh, right. George Springer has now missed three straight after fouling a ball off of his knee on Monday.

Manager Charlie Montoyo thinks Springer could return on Friday. Luke Voigt has now sat out four of the last six games for the Yankees, though he did hit a home run in, I believe, the ninth inning on Thursday. That probably was as a pinch hitter. Yep, sure was. And he's 78% rostered, Scott. Should we drop Luke Voigt? But at this point, he's not playing every day.

I mean, not everywhere, obviously. Not probably not in like a 15-team league. But anything shallower than that? I don't see a lot of reason to hold on to him. How about his teammate, Glaibor Torres? He has now set three of seven games since returning. And I thought this was going to be the case. I mean, he's so bad defensively, man.

Like, obviously, I watch a lot of Yankee games, but he's so bad. And Andrew Velasquez has been pretty good for them. So, Glaber is 83% rostered. Would you drop him? Yeah, I think if we're talking about a 12-teamer and not like a 15-team or a deeper, I think so if the playing time's not going to be there.

Do I still have this teed up? Yes, I do. Glaber Torres and Luke Voigt. He gone. He gone. He gone. And he gone. And he gone. Zach Evelyn will undergo surgery Friday to repair the Pateller tendon in his right knee. He'll miss the remainder of the season and is expected to need six to eight months to make a full recovery. So probably, it's going to be close.

if he's going to be ready for the start of next season. That is Zach Eflin. Tony Gonsland returned on Thursday at the Cardinals, three innings, one run, three strikeouts to two walks. He had 11 swinging strikes on 55 pitches, so that's a very good ratio. But, I mean, being this limited, Scott, I don't really think Gonsland is a priority ad anywhere.

Yeah, I mean, I just think the calendar is going to run out on him, but I was very encouraged by this start just from a long-term perspective, of these 11 whiffs on 55 pitches, that's the best whiff rate Gonsonlin has had all year. And that's, you know, that's spanning 11 appearances, I believe. Ten of them starts. So, I mean, that's saying something.

And his slider was responsible for eight of the 11 whiffs. He threw it about two miles per hour harder than he was throwing it before. And that's closer to the velocity he had on the slider last year. So he may have not really had his best pitch. At least I tend to think. He has a splitter. That's pretty good too. But the slider's definitely among his best pitches.

And he may have not really had it in full force earlier this year. Looks better now. Cabert Ruiz returned to the lineup on Wednesday. He had missed three straight games with a knee injury. So good to see Ruiz back in the lineup. Brendan Nimmo said he's hopeful. that he will be able to return from the IL late next weekend, so not this weekend, next weekend.

And here's the name that we haven't heard in a while. Mike Clevenger has been throwing on flat ground from 75 to 90 feet and remains on track to return by the start of next season. So if you're already out of things, if you're playing a Keeper League maybe and you could pick someone up and stash him for the future, keeper, dynasty, whatever it might be,

Clevenger's probably rostered in your league. But in case he's not, just remember the name. You can pick him up in a league like that and maybe stash him for next year. The prospect report is currently live on the site. We know that Scott writes it every Thursday, so you can go check that out right now. And before we get to the five prospects

that are on the verge, nothing has really changed there. But you actually led the article, Scott, with Red's shortstop prospect, Jose Barrero, and Padre's catcher prospect, Luis Campuasono. What do you have on those two? Well, they're both performing well at AAA, and Kyle,

farmers the only one standing in Barrero's way. Austinola is the only one standing in Campusano's way. Those two teams, the Reds and Padres, happen to be the two that are competing against each other for the second wild card in the NL. Might it make sense for them to bring in this, the young guys who offer a lot more upside for that important battle? And I just made the case that no, it wouldn't.

In fact, it would probably be the worst idea. It's just too late for them to have a chance to get comfortable. And the little bit we've seen of them in the majors so far, they haven't done much of anything. They've been pretty bad. And I don't even know that Camposano's healthy right now because he hasn't appeared in the September game. I don't know what's going on there.

I couldn't find anything. But I'd actually like their chances of getting called it better if they were on non-contenders, I guess is my point. So I was explaining why I'm leaving. them out of my five on the verge for now. And that is the explanation. All right. Padres and Reds. You mentioned they are dueling it out for the National League wild card spot right now for the second wild card spot. And speaking of the wild card, I'll give credit where it's due. Everyone knows whatever. Yankees. Blue Jays, man, red hot.

They swept the Yankees in a four-game set. They've now won eight in a row. So as hot as the Yankees were, they've gone completely the other way. Shout out to the Blue Jays. They're getting done. And in terms of run differential, the Blue Jays, definitely deserve to be in the playoffs. Yeah, they are plus 145. I mean, I assume I haven't gone back and looked at it, but they've probably beat up on some really bad pitchers this year, most notably in the division, the Baltimore Orioles.

But, man, plus 145, that is better than the white size. That's the last. Yeah, I was just going to say it's behind the rays and the Astros. And, you know, plus 145 for the Blue Jays, that's compared to plus 34 for the Yankees. which team is really better, you know? They stink, man. The Yankee, you know, oh my God.

Forget it. When I'm done talking about it, shout it to the Blue Jays. This was an opportunity to talk about the Blue Jays because they've been awesome. Five on the Verge, Bobby Witt, Jose Miranda, Seth Beer, Shane Baez,

Badal Bruhan. Hasn't changed, same as last week. And in fact, this may be the last week. I do five on the verge because it's, I'm not sure, I'm not sure it's going to change from those five. I'm really not confident at this point. Any of those five are going to get called up.

I'm not confident in anyone's going to get called up who hasn't been already, you know. So of those names, the one I think is worth highlighting, as I did last week, is probably Shane Boz. I just, the raise as good as they are,

they don't really have a good starting pitcher aside from Shane McClanahan, and they've been really careful about preserving Boz's innings in the minors this year. So it would make sense for them, to introduce him for the playoffs, I think. But I'm not running the race. Obviously, they may have different ideas.

But yeah, I may go a different direction with the Prospects report next week. And it's actually pretty... Never before have I written the Prospects report this late in the season, because usually the minor league season is done by now. So there's nothing to report on anymore, you know? So I'm kind of figuring out how to handle that

for these last few weeks of the year. Scott, you know what we should do? we should go on a field trip to the Arizona Fall League. I know that that's a big thing for other fantasy analysts around the industry. They do the, what is that called? First pitch, first pitch Arizona, where a lot of people meet up and stuff and they watch. I think it's like the Arizona Fall League game, the Fall Stars.

So I would like to do it one year. It's tough because obviously football is going on and I'm kind of working double duty right now. But I think one year, Scott, let's do it, man. Field trip. That's Arizona Fall League. I want to do it. I really want to do it.

Anyway, five prospects on the periphery, and we've got some big names here up at the top. Red Sox's first base prospect, Tristan Kossis, second base prospect for the Dodgers, Michael Bush, and then we have pitcher for the Angels, Davis Daniel, outfielder for Cleveland, Stephen Kwan, and outfielder for the Yankees, Everson Pereira, who I've actually seen

on some other prospect list climbing pretty rapidly. So again, the name there, Everson Pereira. It's got anything you'd like to add from that group of five? So Casas, his host, Home run output had been lacking all year. Plate discipline was still great, but I wondered if people were beginning to lose faith in him because of the lack of power.

But then he hit five home runs in the span of three days. And you add three home runs from his time in the Olympics, and he's up to 15 homers this year. So, you know, I think he's still a pretty big deal. Davis Daniel is an interesting name. Angel's pitcher. I think he might be the next Joe Ryan because he's getting a ton of strikeouts, particularly since getting moved up to

AA, I believe he's in now. Yeah, he's walking nobody. A ton of strikeouts, walking nobody. And doesn't throw especially hard. Like low to mid-90s fastball, but a high spin rate on the fastball, a lot of deceptions, gets a lot of swings and misses on it. I think he has a better secondary pitch.

than even Joe Ryan does. But that's kind of the comp for, I feel like, for Davis Daniel right now, maybe somebody who could step into his shoes as that atypical prospect who's just putting up bunkers numbers, but not really, not really appearing on many top prospect lists. We had a few promotions. I want to quickly mention as well.

Josh Lowe. I think it's low. Yes, it's low because he's related. Which brother, who's related to Nathaniel? Yes. And not Brandon. So that would make it low and not Lao. This is just ridiculous.

Like, come on, Tampa. Why do you have so many players with the same last name? And they're pronounced differently. Low, Lao. He is the brother of Nathaniel Lowe, who plays for the Texas Rangers. He used to be Nate Lowe. Yes. And before that, he was Nathaniel, though.

So just to add to the confusion. Seriously, man. It's just like, should I change? All right, next podcast, I'll I'm coming on here. I'm Franklin. Franklin Stamphill. Hey, it's Franklin. Anyway, Josh Lowe was promoted to the raise, but it might only be a short stint because Randy a Rosarena is on the paternity list. Josh Lowe has had an awesome season at AAA, 282 batting average, 21 homers, 24 steals. Scott, do you think he sticks around once a rosal

Rana returns? No, but I don't know what this means for Fidel Bruhan. I don't know why Vidal Bruhan isn't on the major league roster yet, because if, like, he seems perfectly suited for as a September call-up. Can play anywhere. Yeah. Would be super valuable just as a pinch runner. I don't know why he's not here. And I don't know why he didn't get the call instead of low with Aeros Arena on the paternity list.

But, yeah, I don't know. I don't know what that means. Well, if this is correct, on milb.com, that's MILB. The last 15 games for Ridal Bruhan, this might have been in the major. though. It says that he's batting 0.077. So he's been in a slump at AAA. Yeah. In September he's batting a 105. But feed doesn't slum as the saying goes. That is true. We had another promotion, Colton Welker promoted by the Colorado Rockies and this season in the

minors, 258 batting average six homers 829 OPS. I mean it's not very exciting what he did in the minors but it's the Rockies so yeah and he might be auditioning for a role for next year. There was a time coming off 2018. He had 333 with 872 in the minors high Class A that year, where I was pretty high on him. But then 2019, 2021, production wasn't near the same. So, I don't know. Colton Welker, a name to know, but I don't have particularly high hopes. All right. And last one here, McKenzie Gore was not promoted to the Padres, but he was promoted to double A within the Padres organization, which I don't really understand. He made one start at high A, five innings, three runs, four walks, five strikeouts. He wasn't very good. I mean, I don't know.

Control has still been an issue for him, so hopefully he performs well at AA. Again, that is Mackenzie Gore. Let's take a quick break when we return. We'll get you ready for next week here on fantasy baseball today. The week 25 pitcher and hitter planners presented by lining coogles and those elusive two-star pitchers, Scott. Who are we looking at for next week? So there weren't many last week, but they're looking pretty good for this week if you need to pick somebody up off the waiver wire. Jake Otter is the best one. We talked about him earlier in the week at Texas versus Arizona. Coming off four good starts in a row. And Dusty Baker, you know, it seems like there might be something behind it because

Dusty Baker's not letting him face a lineup for the third time, and he's having a lot of success. Now, Oda Rizzi isn't happy about it. He kind of threw a little tantrum about it after getting taken. I think he's through like 66 pitches in the most recent start. But it's been working, and he has two great matchups at Texas versus Arizona. Rich Hill, who we mentioned before, John Gray came off the IL. I was dealing with a forearm issue.

He came off the IL Wednesday. and three-earned runs, eight strikeouts, and five innings. So a pretty good start. That was versus San Francisco, tough matchup, and he looked pretty good. This week he gets, he's at Atlanta at Washington, so not the best matchups, but two starts, and he looks like he's healthy. Luis Heel, who we mentioned at Baltimore versus Cleveland,

obviously great matchups there. And it might be worth taking a shot on Logan Gilbert versus Boston. That's not a great matchup, but at Kansas City certainly is. Jake O'Reilly, let's cool it, buddy. Let's cool it with the tantrums because I pulled up third time

through the order in 2021. Now, granted, it's an extremely small sample size, nine innings pitch, which makes this even scarier because he... So they've been doing that all year then? He has... Well, nine innings pitch.

That could be like a total of nine starts or even... Yeah. Anyway, go ahead. He's allowed 18 earned runs in nine endings pitch. It's third time through the order. A 9.30 slugging percentage against him.

So let's cool it. Let's cool it, Jake O'Darie. Dusty Baker, he's been around a long time. I think he knows what he's doing. All right. So those were two-star pitchers. Got any single-start streamers you like for... Yeah, but we covered a lot of them already.

Ranger Suarez at the top of the list, as I said, going against the Cubs, Nester Cortez of Baltimore, Joe Ryan against Cleveland. One guy we didn't mention was Brady Singer for good starts in a row, and he's going against the Mariners. So you might throw a no hitter.

I thought you were going to say the twins because it feels like every start Brady Singer pitches against the twins. I don't know why, but it just feels like. There's been a lot of that going around. Just inner division matchups just crammed together here in the span of two, three weeks. There's been a lot of that.

Poor Logan Gilbert has faced the Astros three times in his last four starts. I mean... There's been so much. I mean, Jake Oter Rizzi against the Mariners. Those are the same two teams, I know. Right. But there's been a lot of that.

I don't know who made out the schedule, but I don't like it. All right. Should have done a better job. I agree with you, unless, of course, you have O'Darizzi on your fantasy team. Then you're perfectly fine with it. Some sleeper hitters, Scott, who are rostered in less than 80% of CBS leagues. Sleeper hitters, yeah. It's a pretty uninspiring group.

I'm not going to lie. My favorite is J. Mer Candelario, which probably tells you how I'm inspiring the group. It seems like there are a lot of hitters that are right at or above the 80% threshold that excludes them from consideration here. A lot of the ones I was most interested in. So how to make do with what we have. But, yeah, Jamer Candelario, Tigers have good matchups this week. And he's been hot. Alejandro Kirk, who we talked about earlier, that two.

Homer game. Hasn't done anything since then, but the Blue Jays, he's been playing, and the Blue Jays have good matches as well. So a couple of lefty mashers here worth mentioning. They've had some playing time issues, but have been getting a fair amount recently, and that's Bobby Dalbeck. The Red Sox are scheduled to face five lefties in their six games,

and Austin Hayes, the Orioles are scheduled to play phase four in their six games. Also, Abraham Toro, who's picked it up at the plate again. It's especially well against lefties and the Mariners have three of those in six games. And that's all that I think is worth highlighting here. There's a full list of 10 that you can find on the site,

but again, not the best week to stream a hitter off the waiver wire. All right. Do you have the five hitter, the five teams with the best match In the five teams with the worst? Of course I do. Best matchups, number one is the Yankees. Number two is the Astros. Number three, the Marlins.

Number four, athletics. And number five is the white socks. Worst matchups. Now, this is what hurt me, too, is worst matchups this week, the Cubs. And, like, the Cubs have a lineup full of sleeper hitters. that. I can't recommend when they have the worst matchups. So Covers are number one, Angels number two, Rangers three, Cardinals four, Giants Five. All right. So there you have it.

The week 25 pitcher and hitter planters presented by Line and Coogles, and I'm headed out to the subway series on Saturday at City Field, which I actually love attending. Why? Because they have Lining Cougal's summer shandy in the stadium, smooth blend of beer and refreshing lemonade that just hits right when enjoying a baseball game, especially live baseball. They had it at Chase Field as well when I went to the Diamondbacks game there. So really enjoy grabbing a Summer Shandy at the stadium. And of course, the Summer Shandy isn't all that they offer. They have a crisp, a Cession Hellas, which has all the flavor of a crisp German-style beer, but it's only 99 calories. And let's not forget

about their Lemonhaze IPA. It's a well-balanced hazy IPA that blends hops with delicious lemonade. So no matter what type of beverage you're craving, Lining Couglas has you covered. Just head on over to linie.com. That's L-E-N-I-E-D-Com. Or follow Line & Cooles on Instagram or Facebook for more information about all of the delicious beers that they brew. All right, it's got to have some would-you-rather questions,

and one of them involves a name that you just spoke about, Abraham Toro. So you might go with him. Might not, because there's some other hitters that are also hot at the second base position. And that includes Nikki Lopez and Nicky So-Lak. So for Lopez, over his last six games, He has 12 hits, one homer, one steal.

He's 45% roster. He has six home games next week. And then Nick Solek on, was this Wednesday or Thursday? Let's see. Let's see. Did the Rangers play? Of course, I don't have this pulled up. Anyway, it was either Wednesday or Thursday.

They did not. So it was on Wednesday. I'm all over the place. Nick Solek went two for three with a walk, an RBI, a stolen base, two runs scored. 16 games since being recalled for Nick Solek. 328 batting average, two homers, two steals, a 12% strikeout rate, he's only 33% rostered, and the Rangers play seven games next week.

So Scott, how would you rank that group? Toro, Lopez, Solek. So obviously the context of where we are and the season comes into play here, but I think I'm going to go Lopez, Toro, and Solac third. Solek probably has the most upside of the group, but the Rangers have the third worst matchups, as I just mentioned. So I really cannot recommend him for this upcoming week.

Lopez, I think, I need a 10th hitter for my sleeper hitters. He might deserve to slot in there because the Royals matchups are decent. And obviously he's hot. And really, I could do better. You mentioned his numbers the last 12 games. Nikki Lopez, since May. Since May, so the last, what, three and a half months,

Nikki Lopez is batting 330. With only a 379 Babbitt, by the way, which is a high Babbap, but for a guy hitting 330, not as high as you'd expect. He has a low strikeout rate, a low fly ball rate, which, of course, helps with BAPIP,

even though prevents home runs. He doesn't have enough power to hit home runs anyway. So you don't want him putting the ball in the air. Nikki Lopez has basically become what we hoped Nick Madrigal would be coming into the season. And particularly in Roto leagues, that's a valuable player. Yeah, I like that comp for sure. And we mentioned this plenty of times. But for prospects, oftentimes their progression, their development, it's not linear. I mean, some guys, it takes longer than others. So Lopez, I remember a couple years ago, 2019, we had that one weekend or that one

week. It was Fabapalooza or Fab Again, whatever you wanted to call it, where we had all these prospects come up at once. It was like Lopez, Oscar Mercado. There's a few other names of I think like Carter Keyboom came up around that time. So there was a lot going on. And he has the pedigree. And it seems like he's finally coming through, Mickey Lopez. I have a few first basement here, Scott. Nathaniel Lo, over his last 15 games, is batting 357 with two home runs. He has seven home games. I know you just mentioned that you don't really like the Rangers matchups for next week. And then Miguel Sineau, who I'm just one of these days, I'm going to get Scott to say something good about Miguel Sineau. Maybe it's today. But he's hit three home runs over his last five games. And he's 58% rostered. He has seven games next week. Who would you rather have Nate Lowe or Nathaniel Lowe or Miguel Sineau?

Don't love either their matchups next week. But the Rangers are worse. And Lowe is worse than Sineau. So definitely Sano more than low. You just got to. to hope he hits home runs. Yes. He didn't really say a good thing about Sineau, but we're almost saying. I said he's better than low. That's a good thing.

Yeah, I mean, you know, we're not really, we're not setting the bar that high, but all right, so if you're debating some first basement on the waiver wire, let's go with Snow over low. Last one here.

And it's interesting. You just mentioned you don't like the Cubs matchups either, but Ian Hap is, he's hot. He's home run in three straight. He's having a massive September. I really had a,

a pretty big August as well. He had an OPS right around 850 in the month of August. Or Joe Adele, who went one for three with his fourth home run of the season on Wednesday. And over his last six games, he has nine hits, three homers, one steal. He's 51% rostered. It's a small sample, but it kind of looks like Joe Adele is coming around. Who do you like more, Scott?

Adele or Hap? Well, I like Adele more, but the Angels matches are bad too. So the Cubs is the worst matchup this upcoming week. Rangers third matchup, as I mentioned. Angels were second worst on that list. So I really wanted to recommend Adele as a sleeper for the upcoming scoring period, but I couldn't with those matchups. The most impressive stat for Adele, most impressive stat of all,

23.1% strikeout rate since joining the big club this year. That's awesome. Yeah, I mean, if that's going to be his strikeout rate going forward, he's going to be all right. Small sample, obviously, but it's encouraging. I want to see him cut down those infield fly balls. He's currently at 17%. So that's too high, but the strikeout rate,

very encouraging for Adele. Overall, he's just having better at bats. I was watching the other day when Blake Snell was pitching and he took that no-hitter or perfect game, whatever it was. No, it was a no-hitter because he walked a few. But there were runners on second-third, and Joe Adele came up. Again, no hits at this point,

and he just grinds out. out a really nice at bad and he hits a two-run single off of Blake Snell, who's one of the hottest pitchers in baseball. So yeah, I think, I think Adele is coming along here. Again, another top prospect who took a while, but slowly, but surely. He looks very young. He looks pretty good. Yeah, very young. All right, I have a few more league winning starting pitchers who need recognition. I just mentioned Blake Snell, and we keep talking about a lot of these guys, but the Marlins, what the Marlins are doing right now, Scott, with their pitchers. Sandy, Alcantara, up against the Mets on Wednesday.

He throws a complete game, I guess not truly complete, because the game went into extra innings, but nine innings, one run, 14 strikeouts to one walk, 27 swinging strikes on 114 pitches. Over his last six starts, Sandy Alcantara, and this is since giving up 10 earned runs to the, I think it was in Coors Field.

So six starts after that. 1.83 ERA, 57 strikeouts to seven walks, over 44 and a third, 17.5% swinging strike rate. 17 and a half. Yeah, he is on fire. As is, I'll lump these guys in together. You can talk about all them, Scott. But Frankie Montas, another great start.

Seven innings, one run, seven strikeouts. His last 11 starts, he has a 16.9% swinging strike rate. And then Tristan McKenzie, six innings, one run, seven strikeouts. That was actually a really fun game. It was McKenzie against Joe Ryan, so a pitcher's duel there between two young. starting pitchers. 10 starts since being recalled for Tristan McKenzie, 310 ERA, a 074 whip, and he is at the twins again next week. So I like that start. But yeah, Alcantara, Montas, Tristan McKenzie, they also look like league winning starting pitchers. Yeah, so I feel like I have a lot to

say about all of these guys. McKenzie, you mentioned that 0.74 whip and 10 starts since being recalled and we know reducing the walks has been a big part of his turnaround but now in his last four starts spanning 27 innings he's given up eight hits in those 27 innings do you have the matchups offhand scott and those four starts yes no i don't i'll pull them up because

i'm interested to see i mean is he just beaten up on bad teams either way i mean it's still impressive regardless sandy alcanta ra man he might be an ace now He might legitimately be there because three of his last four starts I mean he's been giving you innings all year

three of his last four starts double digit strikeouts and you mentioned the swinging strike rate so two of his last three starts 25 plus swinging strikes and yeah during that six start stretch

that 17.5% swinging strike rate would be like as good as anybody not named Jacob de Grom and let's see if I could do the math on this real quick. So he gave up 10 earn runs at that start at Colorado.

He had eight earn runs in a start at the Dodgers earlier this year. So if you take out those 18 earned runs in those two starts, just take out those two starts completely. You're talking about 175 and two-thirds innings. Sandy Al-Contura's ERA becomes two-four. on the year. Wow. I mean, I don't, and he's a great ground ball pitcher.

Sandy Alcantara to the moon, y'all. He's looking great. And Frankie Montauses, too, with all the whiffs he's been getting. But I think he's always going to be somebody who's a little sporadic. Sandy Alcantra, oh, like, I don't know how I'm going to rank him next year. Maybe he might be a, I hesitate to say top 12, but he might be a top 15 pitcher for me going into next year. I was thinking that.

I was thinking somewhere 15 to 20 range, just off the top of my head now. It's going to be that secondary tier of aces that you get in the middle rounds. Maybe it's round 3, 4, 5, something like that. I think an interesting debate for the offseason will be Sandy Alcansara or Robbie Ray. Because Alcantara has obviously the prospect pedigree, and he's younger. Robbie Ray, I think the floor is much lower

because we've seen that in the past, but, I mean, it's hard to argue if he's competing for the American League, Cy Young. So I think both of those guys are kind of going to be drafted

in a similar range next year in that secondary tier of aces. And where do you put Aaron Nola relative to those two? That's going to be... Off the top of my... Look at Jolito.

Is that a better year than Nola, obviously? Off the top of my head, I don't... I don't want to doubt Robbie Ray because it's been an awesome season, but I just know how low that that floor is. And if he's actually being drafted that high next year, I don't think that I'll have many shares.

And I think I would rather have Sandy Alcantara. The Aranola one is pretty close. As of now, I think I would rank them Alcantara, Nola, Robbie Ray, but obviously that is subject to change. If Alcantara's last three starts go as well as his last four starts have gone, I kind of, I think I'm going to have him ahead of all those guys. Ray, Nola, probably Gialito. I don't know.

I don't know. There's going to be a lot of thinking that goes into that. Yep. It's going to be fun. It's going to be a fun off season to talk about these guys. Let's quickly wrap up. We got some starter sit questions. And we'll bring up Jose Orkitti first.

He labored through three in his most recent start against the Mariners. As it looks like on CBS, I don't know if you have this event. for Orkiti, but it looks like he has the Diamondbacks and the Rangers for next week. So only goes three innings here, but if those are actually his matchups, I think you have to start him there. Let's see. I think I have him making just one start. Is that right? Or do I have him making two.

Yeah, no, I do have him making two. I just couldn't call him a sleeper because he's rostered more than 80% of leagues. Yeah, I have Orkiti as an advisable start for next year. week. I don't want to one, just on Alcantra again, real quick, one thing we didn't mention, he has an 8 and 13 record this year for as good as he's been, and we usually don't pay a lot of attention to wins because they're not predictive, but obviously they're a big part of pitcher production. So it might depend on what sort of moves the Marlins make with their lineup this off season. How high we rank Alcantara. I saw Chris talking about this on Twitter. Like, what is, how do

the Marlins get to the next step, right? Like, what do they do? Because it's very, clear that they can develop pitchers and they have very good pitchers, but is it, they have an abundance of it. Do you trade some pitchers away for hitters now? I don't know. I mean, they did the opposite a couple of years ago, right? When they traded away Stanton and Yelich and Ozuna. So

they've kind of got to recoup some of that offense because it's really bad. It's really bad. All right, so Jose Orkini, he's only 42% started right now on CBS. Get them back in your lineups. You Darvish had a bounce back start against the Angels. It was without Otani in the lineup.

It was a very bad lineup, but a nice start, nonetheless. Six innings, one run, seven strikeouts, and it looks like he is in line for two starts next week, I believe, at the Giants and at the Cardinals. Do you throw him back in? Yeah, I have him as a must start. All right. There's some concern there, but I think with the two-star week coming off the start he just had,

and I think that's two out of three that have been like this for him, right? I think he'd get him back out there. Sean Maniah, back-to-back seven-enning, nine strikeout performances. He's currently only 67% started on CBS, and it looks like he's at the Royals next week. So get Sean Mania back in your lineups. Yep, he appears to be on the right track again. Cal Quantrell. This is another one.

I debated putting him in the league winner segment, which sounds crazy, because I still don't really trust it overall, but he's pitching really well. A quality start in nine of his last 12 starts for Cal Quantrell. He's 55% started, and he's at the Twins again next week. So I think that number should be higher. Well, he has a 197 ERA in his past 11 starts. And as you pointed out, most of them are quality starts. Now, like, it's a 9% width rate during that time, so I'm not really sure how he's doing it.

I know he's getting it. I think he's got a ground ball rate around 50% during that stretch, and he's limiting hard contact. So we don't love trust. trusting pitchers like that. That profile, limiting hard contact, ground balls. But he's doing it. He's doing it right now.

Yeah. Yeah. And I'm making an exception for Nestor Cortez. He kind of breaks all the rules. But I understand why he breaks the rules because he's just, he's got such a, he changes up his delivery. Yeah. He's very unorthodox.

Yeah, very unorthodox. Yeah. I mean, I know, I'm not going to call Quantrell a must start with only one. start but I can certainly understand you using him if if if you know you probably know if he's your best option or not and yeah that's it's fine if you need to use them all right last one here it's got John Means he was up against the Royal seven innings two runs five strikeouts pretty strong start here he's 66% rostered and he hosts the Yankees next week which is dangerous it's Camden

Yards they can hit home runs what do you think so I like that Means has three quality starts in his last four, and even the one that wasn't a quality start was two and runs in five, but still too many fly balls, still not enough whiffs. I think with that matchup, you better steer clear. Steer clear. Keep them on the bench. John Means, some leftovers from the past couple of days. Byron Buxton in 12 games since returning from the IL,

he's batting 122 with a 31% strikeout rate. He is hitting the ball hard and putting the ball in the air. He only has a 156 bad-bip, so it seems like he's been on lunch. In shallower leagues, would you drop Byron Buckson? No, I think that's a mistake. You don't want that weapon falling into the wrong hands, Frank. All right. Some deeper waiver options here.

Miguel Cabrera went 4-4-4 on Wednesday. In the second half, Miguel Cabrera is batting 293, eight home runs in 8-67 OPS. He's only 20% rostered. So deeper than 12 teams, if you play in a Categories League or a Roto League with a corner infielder and utility spot. He's playing well, Miguel Cabrera.

And the other name is Lane Thomas in deeper leagues. In 23 games with the Nationals, he's batting 313, three homers, two seals. He's 8% rostered. I brought his name up a few times. He's leading all... Excuse me, what is happening? I'm losing it here. We're coming near the end here, guys.

It's the end of the week. Lane Thomas named there in Deeper League. A few others. Tyler O'Neill having a hot September. He's betting 3.44. Four homers, one steal. Juan Soto, a sock in a shoe on Wednesday, his 25th home run, his ninth steal of the season. Boba Shet, a sock and a shoe on Thursday.

His 22nd homer, his 22nd steel. He is, I don't know how early he's going to go in Roto leagues next year, but... Round two. No, he's round one, Scott. No. In Roto? He's not. He's not wrong.

No, he's not going to be round one. There's... I've done this process several times, Frank. I can't get him in round one, but he will for sure go in round two. Man, we are up against it here, but I kind of want to pull up your most recent draft and figure this out because I think he's round one. I think he's like a mid-first round pick. In Roto only, not in a points league, but we've got time.

We've got time to debate. Call to the Penn, some bullpen updates for the Rockies. Carlos Estevez meltdown on Wednesday. He comes in the game with a one-run lead. He gives up four earned runs. He takes a loss. And then on Thursday, he gets up another run, but he gets his sixth save of the season. Carlos Estevez is 18% rostered for the Red Sox on Wednesday.

Hansel Robles struck out two, picked up his 12th save of the season. And Adam Adavino gave up four earned runs over his last two appearances. So he hadn't, he had pitched last on, I believe it was Monday. So he had a day off. I guess they could have went to him, but he's not pitching well. I don't know. I can't say for certain that Adavino is going to get the next. save for the Red Sox.

So just keep that in mind. For Tampa Bay on Wednesday, Andrew Kittridge came in in the sixth inning to face two, three, and four in the Red Sox lineup in a tie games. Tampa Bay. Okay, makes sense. Then for the Nationals, Kyle Finnegan got his eighth save for the Cardinals, Giovanni Gallegos, two saves in a row on both Wednesday and Thursday.

He is 46% rostered for the Oakland A's. Sergio Romo pitched in the eighth inning on Thursday, and then Andrew Chaffin came in, picked up his third save of the season. He's only 10% rostered. Deeper leagues, 15-team rhodo if you're desperate for saves. Andrew Chafin is a name there. And then for the Marlins,

Dylan Floro picked up his ninth save. Scott, how would you rank this group? Finnegan, Gaigos, Dylan Floro, if he need saves. Gallegos, Finne, Floro. All right. To stream or not to stream for the weekend. Let's start with Friday.

Josiah Gray at the Pirates. Adrian Houser at Cleveland, Michael Walker at the Tigers, who, by the way, is going to be followed by Chris Archer. So it's probably going to be three endings each, something like that. Tanner Halk at the White Sox, Daniel Lynch at the twins. Glenn Otto at the Oakland A's. Who do you like here, Scott? Play it safe, Glenn Otto.

Do you actually like him? No. All right. My favorite's probably Josiah Graham. but at Pittsburgh, he's been roughed up recently, but they don't have any home run hitters, really. Adrian Houser at Cleveland. I don't know that we'll see another complete game from him,

but he'd be my second favorite. I do agree with that. And Otto would be my third if I had to pick a third. 1-800 Glenn Otto, come on. Pick up the phone, the call is free. Saturday, to stream or not to stream, Luis Petino at the Tigers. Eliezer Hernandez at the Braves,

Brady Singer at the Twins. I'm telling you, Brady Singer. faces the twins every start. Michael Paneda versus the Royals, Kyle Freeland at the Phillies, and Cole Irvin versus the Rangers. I would say, I would say Patino at Detroit

and probably Singer at the Twins. I would, yeah, I don't know how Deep Panetta's going to go into that start. I like the matcho against the Royals. Yes, I can start back from the IL. That's my hesitation there. Yeah, I hear you.

Yeah, I like it, Patineo and Singer. Cole Irvin's kind of falling off too, even though it's a good matchup. Sunday, to stream or not to stream, Tyler Gilbert at the Mariners, Palo Espino, at the Pirates, Bailey Ober versus the Royals, Chris Bubich at the Twins,

and Taylor Hearn at the Oakland A's. Wow, none of the, no exciting pitching streamers coming up this weekend, basically. No. Bailey Ober versus Kansas City would be exciting, and, you know, obviously his last outing was short,

with Paneda piggybacking him. That's not going to be an issue in this start. But I don't know if they're, it seems like they're trying to preserve his innings regardless. So I can't give a full-throated endorsement to Bailey Ober versus Casey. All right. Yeah, I think that's fair. Not a great weekend of streamers here.

Patine yells one, Josiah Gray. A few names, but not the best weekend for streamers. We don't have enough time to hit fantasy justice on today's podcast. But I saw a few of those fans. Fantasy justice questions in the email, so I will answer those personally. I'll help you guys out. But yeah, we are, we're just about done here on the podcast.

For Scott, I am Frank. Thank you all for listening and watching. Fantasy baseball today will be back again on Monday. Bye-bye.